With the advent of the Internet, off-line information is able to be accessed in the on-line environment. Advances in mobile communication technology provide the ability to push on-line information to mobile communication devices. With the expansive use of mobile communication technology and mobile communication devices, the ability to push data and information in various forms, such as advertising and marketing, can be realized. This information can be pushed directly to a user's mobile communication device, such as a smart phone.
Certain applications for mobile communication devices provide for enabling the mobile device to detect and identify certain audio signals. For example, there are applications for mobile devices that will identify music when the device is listening to a song. The mobile device listens to the song, and is able to pull information from a central server(s) via the Internet that will identify the title of the song as well as the artist of the song.
These types of applications are limited in the sense that when the application is running, the use of the mobile device is limited and the battery consumption is increased. For example, when a listening application is active or enabled on the mobile communication device, the audio listening portion of the mobile communication, such as the microphone, needs to be on or active. During the time when the listening application is on or active, the microphone will not be able to be used for other purposes, such as a voice call (unless the operating system of the mobile device prioritizes phone calls over all other applications).
When applications of a mobile device are running, the battery consumption increases. Since battery consumption on mobile devices is limited, it is not desirable to continuously run applications that will contribute to the drain on the battery. It would be advantageous to be able to limit the extent of the use of applications, functions and other devices of a mobile communication device in order to increase the battery charge or life but still be able to receive notifications that are linked to the use of such applications.
Notifications, and push notifications are commonly used in mobile communication system and devices to provide information. These might generally be referred to as “smart phone app notifications.” In a typical smart phone, a notification is received by the smart phone and is be indicated by an icon in a notification screen or panel of the user interface or display of the mobile communication device. The notification icons are generally unique to the underlying application. In some instances or applications, the notification can be accompanied by some audible aspect as well. Notifications can appear in many different forms.
For example, in certain ANDROID™ based devices, the notification icon will appear as a small symbol or logo in an upper left hand corner of the display. When such a notification icon is presented, the user can typically open the notification panel and tap on the respective icon, as is generally understood. The tapping on the icon will result in the opening of the application. In other instances, the user can go directly to the relevant application icon and open the application from there.
Generally, in order to receive notifications relevant to an application enabled on the mobile communication device, the application has to be running and the device configured or subscribed to receive such notifications. For example, to receive email notifications, the email application will be enabled or active. Typically, the email application will be configured to periodically ping the email server to obtain such notifications. To receive news feeds, the news feed application on the mobile device will be enabled and periodically pull down updated information. Alternatively, the updated information can be pushed to each device that has the particular news application enabled.
However, in the case of a listening application, as noted before, when the listening application is running, or listening, there is a battery drain and the microphone is blocked from other use. If the listening application is not running or not listening, there is the possibility that the mobile device will not receive relevant notifications that it would otherwise receive if the listening application was actively enabled.
There are also situations where the operating system of a mobile communication device does not provide for, or enable, background listening. Thus, those types of devices will not be able to participate in such programs where background listening is required.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a mobile device and notification system for a mobile device that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.